Indy draws cheers from world's press at first screening in Cannes

The first press audience to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in Cannes this afternoon greeted the movie with sustained applause after whooping and hollering throughout.

Watch Times Chief Film Critic James Christopher's 60 second video review

 

Make no mistake, there is no danger of this film tanking. Harrison Ford is back to his athletic, wise-cracking, combatitive best as Dr Jones in Steven Spielberg's fourth installment of the series, and side kick Shia LaBeouf is a revelation, in more ways than one.

Everything about this Indiana Jones is bigger than previous instalments. The movie is effectively a chase from its opening scenes in the New Mexico desert to a climatic ending deep in the Amazonian jungle.

Ford is greyer than before, but otherwise looks and acts much the same as in the previous installment 19 years ago. He has his usual quota of punch-ups, chases and hair raising getaways, including a frankly implausible escape from a nuclear explosion where he's blasted to safety inside a lead lined refrigerator.

In his first dialogue, Dr Jones admits that "it won't be as easy as it used to be", but for the rest of the movie he goes about disproving his own theory.

His first jump is more like a lumber than the rolling leaps of 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the thrills and spills get more and more outlandish as the movie progresses.

Indiana has to deal with giant waterfalls, giant red ants and the biggest temple complex he's ever had to negotiate.

Playing a Soviet agent keen to harness the Crystal Skull's powers as a weapon, Cate Blanchett is less menacing than Indy's Nazi rivals in previous movies, but the real battle was always going to be winning over the critics.

If today's hyper-critical Cannes press audience liked it, there's a good chance you will too.

Tonight on the Cannes red carpet, Spielberg, Lucas and Ford will confidently stride up the steps knowing they've delivered a sure-fire hit.